Grip-tread armor for elastic tires.



H. D WEED. GRIP TREAD ARMO R FOR ELASTIC TIRES,

APPLICATION FILED NOV 17 I905 2 SHEETS-S HEET 1-" NVENmm Patented May 11, 1915.

\\\\\\f 4l\ y JITTUENEK H. D. WEED. em? TREAD ARMOR FOR ELASTIC TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.17, I905.

Patented May 11, 1915.

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2 SHEETSSHEET 2- III/I WITNESSES INVENTUR 0Q TTDHNEL UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE. I

HARRY D. WEED, 0F CANASTOTA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 WALTER IB. LASHAR, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

GRIP-TREAD ARIVIOR FOR ELASTIC TIRES.

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed November 17, 1905. Serial- No. 287,888

To alt whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY I). WEED, of Canastota,'in the county of Madison, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grip-Tread Armor for Elastic Tires, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is-a full, clear, and exact descrip- I -This invention relates to an improved" tinuous gripping contact of comparatively broad area between the surface of the metal shield and road-bed1 i Another object is to make the wearing surface of the armor comparatively broad and fiat transversely and to provide each section of the armor with opposite radially projecting flanges at the .opposite sides of the tire, but spaced apart a greater distance than the transverse width of the adjacent face of the tire to allow for lateral bulging 'under radial compression.

A further object is to make the several armor sections identical in construction and symmetrical so that all may be cast from the same pattern and interchanged one for the other and to hinge said sections together end to end circumferentially around the periphery of the tire in such manner that the wearing surface of one section extends beyond the contiguous end of the we'aring surface of the adjacent section,

thereby establishing a continuous wearing surface.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings :F igure 1. is a side view of" a traction wheel equipped withmy improved armor tread. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side View partly in section of a portion of the Wheel and tire tread seen in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line -3-3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a top plan, partlyin section, of a series of, in this instance, four -of the armor sections. Fig. 5 is a perspective'view of one ofsaid'armor sections. Fig. 6 is a sidevi'ew similar to Fig. 2, showing a slightly modified form of grip tread, and circular side pieces or anchors to which each section ofthe grip tread is detachably connected. Fig. 7 is atransverse sectional view taken on line -77 of Fig. 6.

In demonstrating the practicability of my invention, I have shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 a portion of a traction wheel consisting of a rim 1- and solid rubber tire '2 which is mounted in the rim in any well known manner, as seen in Fig. 3, and held in place by circular wires -3.

The armor tread consists of a seriesof cast metal wearing plates or sections-- 4 arranged end to end upon the peripher/fof the tire '2- and having their adjacent ends pivotally connected to each other by suitable bolts or rivets 5, one of which may be readily detachable to permit sections of the flexible armor at this point to be detached when placing such armor upon or removing it from the tire.

'As shown in the drawings, each of the sections 4 consist of a transverse bar -6- having oppositely projecting tongues 7' which are spaced apart forming intervening grooves'or recesses -8, the

tongues at one side of the bar 6 being directly opposite and of substantially the same width as the spaces -8 at the op posite side of the bar, so that the tongues of one section have an easy turning fit in the -adjacent grooves or recesses of the next sectio'n', said tongues being provided with transverse apertures for receiving. the belts or rivets 5, whereby the adjacent sections are hin ed together, it being understood that suflicient clearance is left between the tongues and ends of the adjacent sections to permit them to rock easily upon their pivots or hinge-bolts.

The. outer wearing surfaces of the bar -6 and tongues -7 of each section lie in substantially'the some. flat plane transersely of the tread, thereby affording a comparatively broad transverse "wearing surface adapted to grip into the road-bed to prevent lateral skidding of the wheel and also to increase the traction surface.

The tongues 7- of the adjacent armor sections which are hinged to'each bther extend circumferentially one beyond the other, thus establishing a continuity of the gripping surface which is extremely important in the use of an armor on heavy traction wheels or where the strain upon the armor is particularly severe, owing to the fact that such strain is distributed over a number of links at the same time and .that at no time can the strain be brought upon one link alone.

Themarginal edges of the transverse bar 6 and tongues -7-- the outer face inwardly forming ribs ex tending transversely of the plates and along the tongues so as to afford a better gripping edge of surface capable of embedding itself into the road-bed under the superimposedload. Each of these sections -4:- is preferably provided at its transverse ends with radial flanges 9 which'ex'tend inwardly at the opposite sides and are spaced apart a greater distance than the width of the periphery of the tire to allow for lateral bulging of. the tire under compression produced by the weight of the superimposed load, such flanges also serving to prevent any possibility of lateral displacement of the armor from the tire.

It will be observed-upon reference to Fig. 3 that the periphery of the tire 2-- is substantially flat transversely, and I, therefore, make the inner faces of the sections lflat transversely to fit closely upon the pe riphery of the tire. V

The front and rear edges of the flanges 9- are curved or convcxed to permit the sections to readily flex radially and it is obvious that the portion of the armor engaged with the road-bed will be depressedor flexed inwardly to a greater or less degree, thereby increasing the traction area according to the weight of the superimposed load, the flexibility of the armor being' materially increased by making the apertures, as 10-, through which the bolts 5 pass, slightly elongated circumferential-1y, which also permits the armor sections to adjust themselves closer together when compressed radially at the tread of the superimposed load. I

In Figs. .6 and 7 I have shown a slightly modified form. of the, armor consisting of a series of sections -'-4:- which are in all respects similar to and are assembled in the same manner as those seen in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive,-except that the opposite inner ends of the flanges, as 9', are provided with hook-shaped attaching members 12 for.

receiving loops or links .13- which in turn are connected to circular side pieces, as chains 14, the loops 13 .being detachably engaged with the hooks 12- to permit the armor sections -4-'to be used 1 e beveled from with orwithout the circular side pieces The sections of these grip treads are as sembled in the manner described to form grip treads of different lengths for tires of the detachable bolt 5, Fig. 4, is inserted I for finally securing the detached end-s of the armor together, thereby holding saidairmor upon the tire.

The armor is drawn tightly against and around the periphery of the tire so as to partially compress the same and it. is held from slipping b portion engage with the. ground" is dercason of the fact that the pressed or flattened radially, thereby fbreaking the continuity of the circle and affording alock between the'tire and, armor. What I claim is,

, 1. In combination witha vehicle wheel having an elastic tire, a grip tread for said tire composed of a series of metal sections arranged circumferentially around and upon the periphery of the tire and having their ends provided with intervening tongues and grooves, the tongues having registering ap ertures slightly elongated circumferentially,

hinge bolts passed through the'registering' apertures of adjacent tongues to allow the sections to move toward each other When ena in the roadwa I said sections havin k outer fiat faces extending alongtheir tongues and also having inner flat faces resting on .the periphery of the tire, the opposite-ends of each section beingv provided wit inwa rdl y projecting flanges spaced apart fr m 1 the adjacent sides of the tire, the front and rear edges of the flanges being tapered inwardly to allow flexing action of the tread.

2. A grip tread armor for elastic tires comprising a circular series of wearing plates arranged end toend circumferentially in close juXta-position and having their meeting ends provided with interfitting tongues and grooves and their sides provided with inwardly projecting flanges, the inner faces of the plates between the flanges being substantially flat, and pivotal bolts passed through apertures in the tongues of adjacent plates, the apertures in the tongues being elongated circumferentially to allow the sections to move toward each other when engaging the roadway.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 10th day of November, 1905. 

